Happy New Year
by CPD5021George
Summary: After Jay's abduction, things have changed for him and Hailey. And the new year is approaching fast. Just a short New Year's bit for my favorite Detectives. Upstead


**Happy New Year**

_**This year I wasn't quite in the mood for the Christmas spirit, therefore I decided to write a little New Year's story. Enjoy, and have a Happy New Year**_

* * *

The year had not been an easy one for Jay Halstead.

Not for the people close to him, and not for himself.

His brother was in protective custody after working with the FBI, ruining his planned wedding.

Antonio, who had brought Jay to Intelligence, had developed an addiction problem, which lead to him leaving Intelligence, perhaps forever.

Adam had taken the blame for a death caused by Antonio and landed in jail. He was released after a while, but it had shaken him up badly nevertheless.

The election in Chicago made Kelton Mayor, and Kelton wanted to destroy the unit.

When Kelton was murdered, the unit was saved, but his Sergeant was a suspect for the murder. In the end it turned out that Voight was innocent, but the way Jay and Voight handled the case lead to a serious fight and a rift between the two of them.

Then there was the flesh-eating virus, which brought Hailey in lethal danger, and himself too. The final straw was that a suspect, an innocent man, whom Jay had put in jail, was killed. And when Jay tried to help his wife and son out of guilt, he was abducted and shot and barely made it.

He was physically ok now, after a few weeks in hospital fighting for his life. And the woman who shot him could be convinced not to press charges against Jay.

By now Jay was back with Intelligence, on desk duty until further notice. Boring but better than staying at home or in Med even longer.

* * *

He had changed since that last incident. He wasn't sure how, but he was aware that he had changed. He kept even more to himself now, didn't trust anyone anymore, not even his colleagues and friends. And one more thing had changed. Jay was not working with Hailey, who was still partnered with Vanessa. They hardly talked anymore. Didn't meet after work for a drink and a talk, didn't spend time together.

Jay knew that Hailey had been in the hospital all the time until it became clear that he would survive. But as soon as he recovered, she withdrew.

Jay wasn't sure why. Was she angry with him? Did she feel uncomfortable with the changed Jay? Or what else could it be?

He only knew that he missed Hailey and her friendship, her teasing and her support.

* * *

Strangely enough he bonded a lot with Adam recently. For Adam the year hadn't been easy either, everything that had happened this year and most of all his time in jail had taken its toll on him. Adam was the only one with whom Jay willingly spent his free time. They could hang out without constantly talking, but still supporting each other, stopping the other from constantly overthinking everything and freaking out. And even have fun from time to time.

He had spent Christmas at home with his brother, very low key. No Christmas decorations, no festivities, just two brothers hanging out. He flat out refused to join any parties he was invited to. But for New Year's Eve, his colleagues didn't have that. They insisted he would join them at Molly's, where Intelligence and some friends from CFD came together. Jay wasn't in the mood to go, but Adam and Kevin picked him up in the early evening and didn't take no for an answer.

* * *

So, here he was, at Molly's on New Year's Eve, 10pm, surrounded by people in the mood to party, dancing, having fun, while Jay sitting at a corner table, clinging to his beer. Almost everyone was here, Kevin, Adam, Kim, Vanessa from Intelligence, Severide and Stella, Casey, Brett, Foster, Ritter from CFD, among others. Molly's was crowded. The only one missing was Hailey. Secretly Jay had hoped to meet her, but Hailey was not here. He knew that she was aware he would be at Molly's; the others had been very clear about that. Did she avoid him? Again? Why?

For a short time, Stella and Severide engaged him in a conversation, but at some point their flirting was too much for him. He tried to find Adam but saw that he was talking to Kim. Jay decided to leave. This group of happy people was not the right place for him, and nobody would miss him anyway.

Quietly he left Molly's. Outside he looked around. What now?

He closed his jacket, pulled up the collar and put the beanie on his head. It was cold, and some snow was falling. He didn't mind the cold and decided to take a walk. Perhaps he could put the old year behind him, start a new and hopefully better year. So he started walking through the falling snow. It was quiet, most people were inside celebrating, he was almost alone in the street.

* * *

Hailey Upton was supposed to spend New Year's Eve with her brother's family, and she wasn't sure if that was the right decision. The unit was meeting at Molly's, and she would have liked to be there with her friends. And with Jay. But Jay was also the reason she accepted her brother's invitation. When Jay was abducted and shot and his life was in danger, she almost collapsed. She had been so terrified and was in shock for a long time. She couldn't bear losing her best friend, the person she trusted most, the person with whom she could be who she really was, who cared for her, and for whom she cared so much. When it was clear, however, that Jay would live, and that he would not face trouble for the death of Marcus West, she acted the most illogical way possible. She pulled away from him. She had been so afraid to lose Jay, that she buried all her feelings for him and avoided him whenever possible. She didn't visit him in the hospital anymore and was relieved that she was still partnered with Vanessa. Deep down she knew how wrong that was, but she couldn't help herself. She had almost lost Jay – for the second time – and if that ever happened again, she would not be able to survive it. Therefore, she tried to stay away from him, from her feelings for him – just to not get hurt again. And the longer she stayed away, the more difficult it was to return to him.

She sat on her brother's couch, sipping her beer, staring into space. She didn't listen to the conversation of the grown-ups, and even the children couldn't distract her.

"Are you sure you're ok?" her brother asked.

Hailey flinched. "Yeah," she answered absentmindedly.

"Yeah, I don't think so," he said with a smile. "I think you'd rather be someplace else. Am I right?"

Hailey smiled sadly. "I don't know."

"I do know," her brother insisted. "You know what? I'll call you an Uber, and that will take you to wherever you should be – because you clearly don't want to be here. No protest accepted."

Hailey looked at him. As annoying as brothers could be, he had a point this time. Perhaps she should go and join the unit at Molly's. They were her family too, after all. And maybe… maybe she would have the courage to talk to Jay. Like friends. Maybe they could be friends again.

* * *

The Uber arrived and Hailey jumped inside, looking out at the streets on the way to Molly's. But a few blocks before they reached the bar, she asked the driver to stop. She wasn't _quite_ ready to face Jay yet, so she would walk the rest of the way.

A few seconds later, Hailey stood on the sidewalk. Wrapped into her warm coat, alone. She breathed in heavily. _I could just go home_, she thought, but shook her head. No, she would not do that, she would go to Molly's and try to have a good night with her friends. She started walking, looking into the windows of the houses she passed. Everywhere she could see people celebrating. Why was she not in the mood to celebrate? This year hadn't been a good one, perhaps the next would be better. She hoped it would be better for her, and for Jay. Especially for Jay. He deserved so much better.

* * *

Lost in her thoughts she didn't pay attention, and suddenly she bumped into someone. She heard a familiar grunt, looked up and stared into Jay's green eyes.

"Jay!"

"Hailey."

"What?" both asked at the same time, then exchanged an insecure smile.

"Going to Molly's," Hailey explained.

"Coming from there," Jay answered.

Both were unusually uncomfortable around the other, just staring at each other.

Finally Jay shook off his numbness. "Want to walk back to Molly's with me?"

Hailey nodded. "Yes, I'd like that."

Jay smiled tentatively, stretched out his arm for her. "It's slippery."

Thankfully Hailey linked arms with Jay, and immediately she regretted it. It felt much too good to be so close to him. She should not do that. But she couldn't pull back her arm now, not without offending him even more than she had already done.

"So…" Jay started after a while. "Your family's party wasn't worth it?"

"Molly's isn't all that great either, it seems," she answered with soft sarcasm.

"Nah, everyone was having fun," Jay replied.

"Everyone but you," Hailey concluded.

"It was a bit lonely," Jay said, before he could stop himself. "For me at least. And I've had enough of that."

"And that's why you are all by yourself out here."

"Better than being alone in a group full of happy people."

"Hmm," Hailey agreed automatically.

They stopped talking again, both feeling that they were treading on unsafe territory.

* * *

For two blocks they walked next to each other silently. Both weren't quite ready to admit how much they enjoyed the other's company; how much they had missed each other. Hailey held tight to Jay's arm, she enjoyed being close to him, as much as she tried to ignore that. Jay didn't even dare to speak, he didn't want to ruin the moment of closeness. He didn't want to do anything to drive her away again.

When they saw Molly's in the distance, both stopped.

"Ready to go inside?" Jay asked.

"Are you?"

Silence.

"Jay, we need to talk," Hailey suddenly blurted out. She needed to do this now, no matter what happened afterwards. Things couldn't go on like this.

"Yes," Jay answered faster than he should have. "Hailey, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Jay," she admitted quietly, looked down for a second. Then she looked into his eyes, gathering all her courage. She wasn't sure if it was a wise move, but she needed to be honest with him. "Jay, I almost lost you, I almost lost you again. I was so scared. I… I thought that it wouldn't hurt so much if I distanced myself from you."

Jay stared at her, shaking his head. "I thought you were angry with me and stopped talking to me because I've been such an idiot."

"Yes, I was angry," Hailey admitted. "In the beginning I was so angry, because once again you put yourself in danger. But I was so scared, so afraid to lose you. Before I could tell you how much you mean to me."

Jay was unable to move, just looked into Hailey's blue eyes, in which tears were welling up. For what seemed like hours none of them moved, they only stared at each other, unsure of what to do next.

A passing car startled them, and both laughed nervously.

"It's getting cold out here," Hailey whispered.

Jay touched her face, wiping a snowflake off her cheek. "Yes, it is. We should go inside."

"Yeah," Hailey smiled, and then, without thinking about it, pulled his head close to hers and kissed him. With a deep breath and a sigh Jay immediately reacted, wrapped his arms firmly around Hailey and kissed her back.

When they ended the kiss, Hailey buried her face in Jay's chest. This was what she had been wanting for so long, had been afraid of for so long. And now there was no turning back. And it was good, more than good. It was right.

"You know, we should really go inside now, I can barely feel my feet anymore," Jay joked.

Hailey nodded and slipped her arm around his waist, leaning on to him, as he put his arm around her shoulders. Together they went back to Molly's, in peaceful silence.

* * *

Jay opened the door, and the familiar warmth and noise welcomed them. He helped Hailey out of her coat, put both their jackets away, and took her hand. It was the most normal gesture in that moment. They went up to the bar, Jay ordered a couple of beers for all of intelligence, they grabbed the bottles and approached their unit together, placing the beers on the table.

"Hailey, you made it!" Adam noticed her first.

"Yeah, I couldn't stay away from you all," she laughed, suddenly relieved and happy to be here.

Nobody seemed to notice or care that she and Jay were holding hands. Jay and Hailey slowly relaxed in the company of their friends, didn't think much of it either. They needed it, and that was all that counted.

When the countdown to the new year started, Jay and Hailey found themselves once again staring into each other's eyes. Everything around them vanished, they only had eyes for each other.

They kissed, and to everyone around them it was clear that this kiss was more than a quick peck between friends.

After a while they heard cheering and looked around. Everyone around them was laughing and cheering.

"Finally," Adam grinned.

Jay and Hailey smiled at each other.

"Happy New Year, Hailey. For us."

"For us, Jay."


End file.
